Retailers and Black Friday 2012 sales

In a recent Business Pulse survey by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, readers were asked, "What do you think of Target and other retailers opening their stores at 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving night?"

The responses provide insight into readers' thoughts:

• Seventy-seven percent chose "Hate it! American consumerism has run amok!"
• Ten percent chose "Love it! No more sleep deprivation"
• Eight percent chose "I prefer 5 a.m. — when the wimpy shoppers are sleeping"
• Six percent chose "I'm shopping on Thanksgiving, but I'm doing it online"

While I understand that retailers want to get a jump-start on bringing in revenues for the all-important fourth quarter, they also need to be cautious about creeping into Thanksgiving. After all, there are reasons for national holidays, and giving people a break from work to spend time with their families is one of them. We don't want Thanksgiving to go away and become Black Thursday.

The end of monthly same-store sales?

Each month, many retailers report same-store sales, which reveal the sales at stores open at least a year. The idea behind these statistics, according to Thomson Reuters (one of the compilers of the data), is "to examine underlying growth trends at a retailer, since it excludes store openings and closings. It also allows comparisons between retail chains that are aggressively expanding and those expanding at a slower pace."

In the last couple months, however, two notable retailers have decided to stop reporting monthly same-store sales:  Target and Kohl's. Both have decided to move to reporting quarterly same-store sales. They are in good company; Walmart doesn't report monthly same-store sales either.

In Target's case, the retailer said that reporting same-store sales quarterly "will create a longer-term focus and provide greater understanding of our sales results in the context of our overall financial performance."

Kohl's said that it will switch to reporting sales results quarterly "to align with the wishes of its investors and the practice of the majority of its retail peers."

Having worked seven years in the public relations department of a major retailer, I understand why it makes more sense for retailers to switch to reporting same-store sales on a quarterly basis. Each month, management at my retailer had to determine why the same-store sales changed. Sometimes it was because Easter had shifted a week. Other times it was because of El Niño or La Niña. Hopefully reporting same-store sales on a quarterly basis will be able to provide a truer comparison.

So, who does that leave as retailers reporting monthly same-store sales? Here's the list:

1. The Buckle
2. The Gap
3. The Limited
4. Ross Stores
5. TJX Cos.
6. Bon-Ton
7. Costco
8. Fred's
9. Macy's Inc.
10. Stage Stores
11. SteinMart
12. JW Nordstrom
13. Cato Corp
14. Wet Seal
15. Zumiez
16. Walgreen
17. Rite Aid

While there are significant retailers on this list, there are many noteworthy ones not reporting as well. Take that into account when reading the headlines about monthly same-store sales. Perhaps eventually it just might shift to quarterly same-store sales altogether.

Meet the media

Bill Hudson, Stephanie March and Thomas Lee share media relations tips.

At an Oct. 31 Minnesota Public Relations Society of America breakfast event, attendees learned a few tricks about connecting with the media while enjoying treats.

Moderator Dr. Michael Porter of the University of St. Thomas started out the panel discussion with an appropriate Halloween question, "What is the worst PR nightmare pitch that you have received?"

While Bill Hudson of WCCO-TV and Stephanie March of Mpls. St. Paul Magazine refused to comment, Thomas Lee of the Star Tribune shared his interesting story.

"My worst public relations nightmare was getting a pitch from a company promoting a product called Flatulence-D, with deals with farting after gastric bypass surgery," said Lee. "The person really had no clue what I wrote about."

Among the tips offered by Hudson, March and Lee were:

• Don't pitch more than one reporter at the same media outlet.
• Read the reporter's stories and what they have written about before pitching.
• Think in terms of both visuals and sound when pitching TV reporters.
• Learn the reporter's preferences in terms of connecting via e-mail or phone call.

The panelists agreed that media relations is about relationships.

"The best time to get in touch with a reporter is when you have nothing to pitch," said Lee. "You're in it for the long haul." In the video above, Lee talks about how he uses ProfNet to find sources.

One attendee asked a question about connecting with reporters via social media. That turned out to be an individualized response. Lee primarily uses Twitter to find out about stories, while March is open to being pitched via Twitter. Hudson, however, isn't even on Twitter, so phone and e-mail are best for him.

How can public relations people stand out from the clutter? Attendees learned one trick:  send a handwritten note. It will get read.

Social media and the presidential campaign

Created by: Open-Site.org

How $700 got lifted from my wallet. . .my LivingSocial complaint

Caveat emptor. A few times I have purchased deals from sites like LivingSocial or Crowd Cut, such as a restaurant discount or money off at a bed and breakfast.

Deals on those sites worked out fine for me -- until now. This spring my wife bought six Zerona laser treatments for $699.00 from Maple Grove Wellness.

I personally would not have purchased something health-related from LivingSocial. My wife, however, had researched Zerona and was waiting for the appropriate time to purchase a deal.

She made an appointment with Maple Grove Wellness, but was not able to get in until after the LivingSocial refund time frame expired (five days).

The LivingSocial refund policy says:  "LivingSocial will provide a refund if you change your mind within five days after you've purchased your voucher and want to 'return' the unused voucher. After that, we do not provide refunds except that we will provide a refund if you are unable to redeem a voucher because the merchant has gone out of business."

My wife went to her initial consultation with Maple Grove Wellness and the "physician" was unable to and/or unwilling to answer some of her questions regarding the procedure (success rates, side effects, etc.). That made her uncomfortable with having it done at Maple Grove Wellness, so she sought a refund. After contacting LivingSocial consumer services, she was told that no refund would be available.

There's a lesson to be learned here -- don't buy health-related deals (LASIK, Zerona, body waxing, facials, etc.) on deal sites. You probably will not be able to get an appointment until you're outside of the LivingSocial refund time frame, and then you'll be out your money. In my case, it was $699.00 down the drain. Buyer beware.

Creative inspiration

Panelists at the Minnesota PRSA event (l-r):  Brian Prentice, Scott Broberg, Bart Heird, Paul Maccabee

Create a joke about corn on the cob and thirst. Not the easiest thing to do, right? It was, in fact, the challenge that Bart Heird of Aimia gave my breakout group at a recent Minnesota Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) event recently. (You can read my fabulous joke at the end.)

Heird was one of the panelists for the "Infusing Creativity into Your Job" workshop held at Padilla Speer Beardsley on Sept. 27.

The event started out with a panel featuring Heird, Scott Broberg of Fast Horse, Paul Maccabee of Maccabee Public Relations, and Brian Prentice of Padilla Speer Beardsley.

Attendees learned many nuggets about how to inspire creativity such as:

• Train yourself to remember your dreams to capture awesome creative ideas.
• Unplugging is essential for inspiring creativity.
• The solution is the least important part of creative thinking - set it aside and it will come.

The panelists each had unique takes on creativity. "What's original 20 years ago could be original today because of idea regeneration," said Heird.

Broberg pointed out that a simple twist on an idea can take it from good to great.

In regard to the "blue sky," Prentice said that it can be scary for creative people. "Sometimes it helps to have the box defined," he said.

Maccabee commented on the shifting expectations of clients as transitioning from "Get me on Oprah" to "Make my video go viral."

Breakout Sessions

After the panel discussion, attendees had the opportunity to get up close with each of the creative masterminds in breakout groups that rotated.

Maccabee presented groups with a situation involving Gold'n Plump chicken. Participants needed to collaborate on the launch of chicken called "Just Bare." Zero advertising was taking place, and Gold'n Plump needed to reach women who are "mindful eaters" ages 25 to 45 with one to three children. One caveat:  the company didn't want anyone playing off of the "Just Bare" name in the "au naturale" sense that immediately comes to mind.

Prentice provided an excellent way to break the ice:  Story Cubes. With Story Cubes, people simply rolled the dice and used the pictures on the dice to create stories on the spot.

Broberg reflected on brainstorms in his breakout group. Some tips that he had for effective brainstorms included:  removing distractions, asking "Why not?" and bringing in research and facts to help brainstorms stay on track.

Remember the challenge to create a joke about corn on the cob and thirst? Heird provided some guidelines to joke writing in his breakout session. He said that jokes need to be plausible and encouraged people to be curious and to find patterns and associations.

So, now as to my joke about corn on the cob and thirst:  The drought was so bad this year that even corn on the cob was drinking soda made with high fructose corn syrup.

Hyper revolution